One Direction books unprecedented third night at the Rose Bowl

Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne of One Direction perform at Rumsey Playfield in November in New York City. The band announced an unprecedented third night in its “Where We Are Tour” at the Rose Bowl.
Jamie McCarthy — Getty Images

PASADENA >> For boy band One Direction, the iconic Rose Bowl stadium has “got that one thing” to keep them coming back for more.

The band announced an unprecedented third night in its “Where We Are Tour” at the stadium Monday for a three-night concert series in September. No other music group has performed three nights straight at the Rose Bowl, CEO and General Manager Darryl Dunn said.

“It’s really amazing. If you think about the history of the Rose Bowl that this is the first band ever the play three nights in our stadium in the 90 plus years of this place,” Dunn said. “It will be a lot of excitement in all of Pasadena for the One Direction days in September.”

The shows, on Sept. 11-13, are expected to generate close to $1 million for the stadium, which is still buried under a mountain of debt after a costly renovation.

The stadium has been riding a wave of success from the Justin Timberlake and JAY Z concert last summer, to the back-to-back Rose Bowl and BCS Championship games this month, to the One Direction announcement.

Dunn said the success can be partially attributed to the $155 million in renovations that have been completed so far, including the brand new premium seating pavilion. The next phase of construction, $13 million of work including a revamped stadium entrance and new bathrooms, began this month and will be completed by the end of the summer.

Councilman Victor Gordo, president of the Rose Bowl Operating Company Board, agreed.

“It’s an exciting time for the stadium and for the city. The fact that the stadium has become so attractive to big name artists is evidence that the investment in the stadium is worthwhile,” Gordo said Friday. “We are seeing an immediate return on investment and I believe that will continue into the future and ultimately accomplish the goal we set out to accomplish which is the financial viability of the stadium.”

And the money should keep coming as the year progresses. Rose Bowl staff asked the City Council Monday night to allow another back-to-back two night concert in August, though they won’t disclose the band, and plans to ask for three additional events to bump the Rose Bowl’s yearly total to 17.

A city ordinance regulating the use of the city-owned stadium limits the number of annual large-scale events at the stadium to 12. The City Council must approve any additional events.

The decision comes on the heels of a court ruling that could allow a NFL team to temporarily play at the stadium in the future, which has neighbors who filed a lawsuit against the city concerned that it will become a reality.

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Officials said last week that concerts could be a viable financial alternative to the NFL, and concert promoter Live Nation said it has a continued interest in booking shows at the historic venue.

“This is truly historic. No artist has played three nights at Rose Bowl Stadium before. That speaks to One Direction’s tremendous impact right now,” said Rich Best, Executive Vice President of Booking for Live Nation/Southern California-Las Vegas. “It also reinforces the Rose Bowl’s status as a go-to venue for major shows. Concerts on this scale call for the infrastructure and expertise that the Rose Bowl is known for in the live-event industry.”